Nagpur farmer dies of shock over ring road land acquisition, family questions process
A Nagpur farmer whose entire 4-acre plot was acquired for the third outer ring road project died on September 8, with his family blaming the shock of losing the land.
Land acquisition is underway for the third outer ring road project being built in Nagpur city, and the death of a farmer in the middle of this process has shaken the area. Gajanan Sitaramji Tekade, a farmer from Patansavangi, died on September 8, 2026. His ancestral land was to be taken for the project, and fear of this had broken him down from within.
The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and affected farmers in the area say Gajanan Tekade had not been eating or drinking properly for the past two months because of the shock of the land acquisition. His health gradually deteriorated and he died on September 8. The administration is currently carrying out land acquisition in 9 villages, which local villagers and farmers are continuously opposing.
Gajanan Tekade's entire 4 acres of fertile land at survey number 229/1-A in Mouza Kawadas in Nagpur city was coming under the ring road project. Once he learned that this ancestral land would be taken away, he fell into deep mental distress. On September 7 his health suddenly worsened, and the next day, September 8, he breathed his last. Following this, on Monday, members of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti visited the grieving family and offered them support.
The late farmer's daughter, Sunita Tekade, said clearly that the land acquisition was the direct cause of her father's death. She said the family's 4-acre ancestral land lies along the roadside, where they grow wheat, soybean, tur (pigeon pea) and cotton. She said this farming is the sole livelihood for the 7 members of the household, and if the land is taken away the whole family will be left with nothing.
According to Sunita, her father kept saying until the very end that his land would be taken away. She has demanded that the Maharashtra government immediately halt this land acquisition. The late Gajanan Tekade is survived by his son, daughter-in-law, grandson, granddaughter and two daughters, one of whom is married.
